For the Love of the Game (update with Sid Meier)

A fellow named Lycerius has played the same board of Civilization II for the last 10 years. It is now 3991 A.D. and the planet is mostly destroyed due to nuclear wars. First his post went viral. Then, after he uploaded his game, others started playing it out. Yesterday a gamer named Stumpster achieved victory in a (relatively speaking) mere 58 years. His explanation is here. My take (including insight from the game’s creator Sid Meier) can be found at weeklystandard.com.

UPDATE: Yesterday I sent some questions over to Sid Meier via email. His responses are found below:

VM: What was your reaction upon hearing someone has played the same board for 10 years?

SM: I can’t say that we ever thought anyone would play a game of Civ for that long!

VM: Could the player have eventually hit a wall, or would the game simply continue ad infinitum?

SM: We’re not really sure. There’s no way we could have tested for this, so it was a surprise to us.

VM: Had anyone at Firaxis played the game going as far as he did (to the year 3991)?

SM: No, this is definitely a first.

VM: Any comment to the player?

SM: We applaud you for playing what’s sure to be the longest running game of Civ ever!

About the Author

Victorino Matus is a writer and editor at The Weekly Standard. His subjects have included the disposal of dictators’ corpses, celebrity chefs, Spider-Man (the Broadway musical), and Sid Meier. He has just completed his first book, Vodka: How a Colorless, Odorless, Flavorless Spirit Conquered America (Lyons Press, July 1, 2014).